SO...I Think I released a state record!!!

SO, I took my youngest son and my boss's son (Josh) out fishing this last Thursday. About an hour into it Josh reels in this monster Yellowbelly. We took a few photos and then turned to release it. In doing so I snapped the hook off in it's jaw but managed to get him back into the water.
An hour later I got a hit, set the hook, and reeled in the same damned Yellowbelly! It still had Josh's hook lodged in it's jaw.

Anyway, I showed my brother the pics and he stated "You know, the state record is only about a pound and a half for those things!" I looked it up and sure enough, the record is 1.63 pounds!! I think we may have not only released the state record once...BUT TWICE!

What do you guys and gals think? I reeled this fatty in and held him in my hands twice and I swear he was 2 lbs at least.

Good news...he hit twice and I am going back out to see if I can catch him for a third time!!!!
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killerbee
i'm no huge fisherman, but by looking at that fish i would think he's over 2 lbs easy? pretty cool!
if you catch him again, i hear tell the thing to do is dropp a bunch of lead weight down his throat untill he weighs 5 lbs or more lol somewhere i read a story of a guy doing that lol go catch that pig again :thumb
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WinMag
It's hard to tell with only the reel and jig to size him up by. But I think you may be right that you let a State record go twice. ](*,) Good luck on your attempt to catch him a third time.
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ABert
I caught a mess of them things as a kid, though we called them mudcats. I learned the hard way why they are called mudcats. If you are fool enough to try and eat them they taste just like mud.

And, yes, from my professional mudcat/yellowbelly days, that one is over 2lbs! :))
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182BC...4Now!
Looks pretty friggin' big to me...I don't know how that thing doesn't go over 2 lbs! Congrats on the catch...hope you can do it again!
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Default Avatar
That deffinitly looks over two pounds! go catch him again :thumb
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sneekeepete
lol Well hawk he definatley looks like he will break the record. Good luck trying to catch him again! :thumb
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MuleyMadness
Yep you just released the state record TWICE. Agreed. :))
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MULEY7MM
I would even say that thing could be closer to 2.5 i catch a ton of cats and they have alot of weight to them I say go get it again and break the record for a 3rd time
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AGCHAWK
Well, I went back out to the same spot in which I/we hooked him earlier this week. Unfortunately all I caught was smaller ones!

Oh well, you live and you learn right? Now I just hope that he wasn't caught by someone else. That way next year he will be even bigger!!!!
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Loafer
Easily two pounds, good luck on the re-catch.
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camodup
I wanna know,,, did ya recatch the recatch yet?!
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AGCHAWK
Nope! I've been out there twice since I originally caught him but no luck. I'll give it another try or two but I think it's a lost cause.

Besides, I have a goal this fishing season to catch at least one of every species of fish that live here in SE WA. I've now landed 11 of them but still have a long list of fish to catch. I'll have to switch tactics and start going after some of those that have thus far elluded me.
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spoofman
dont know if i would want to claim that kind of fish for a record though----kinda nasty
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hound_hunter
Haha, I agree Spoofman. BUT, that's still pretty sweet Hawk, good luck with it all. As it always seems to go though, now that you know what it is you're after you won't ever see him again.

Hawk that's an awesome goal to catch every species in SE Washington! I'd love to see you start a thread called "SE WA 2011" or something, and post a pic of each species you get with a few stories along the way about how the success is coming along in completing your goal. Whether you make a new thread or not, good luck with it all!
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Default Avatar
Which state and what is the exact location? LOL
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AGCHAWK
"hound_hunter" wrote:Haha, I agree Spoofman. BUT, that's still pretty sweet Hawk, good luck with it all. As it always seems to go though, now that you know what it is you're after you won't ever see him again.

Hawk that's an awesome goal to catch every species in SE Washington! I'd love to see you start a thread called "SE WA 2011" or something, and post a pic of each species you get with a few stories along the way about how the success is coming along in completing your goal. Whether you make a new thread or not, good luck with it all!
 Hound_hunter,

That's a good idea and I think I'll do that. I am just home for lunch at the moment but I'll get on that.
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